All Blog Posts Tagged 'at' - Atheist Nexus2015-08-02T22:11:52Zhttp://atheistnexus.org/profiles/blog/feed?tag=at&xn_auth=noAn Atheist at Dinnertag:atheistnexus.org,2011-06-18:2182797:BlogPost:13577272011-06-18T18:30:00.000ZIvo Coueshttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/IvoCoues
<p>Here you are. You have been invited to a family, political or even social gathering where you share, with a more or less familiar crowd, food, drinks and laughters. Whatever the occasion is, you let yourself being engaged in economic, political and societal debates with the people around you enjoying at every single opposition the opportunity to live and evolve in a country where free speech prevails...And here it comes, the cold and alienating call for prayer. Whoever you are,…</p>
<p>Here you are. You have been invited to a family, political or even social gathering where you share, with a more or less familiar crowd, food, drinks and laughters. Whatever the occasion is, you let yourself being engaged in economic, political and societal debates with the people around you enjoying at every single opposition the opportunity to live and evolve in a country where free speech prevails...And here it comes, the cold and alienating call for prayer. Whoever you are, whatever your religious belief is, you are part of it now, and not submitting to this practice would cost you partial or complete rejection from the very people who were, until now, you dear peers...So here it is, the time to make a choice. Respectfully, your put your head down, your listen silently and you may or may not look around because you already picture too well your surrounding. And the crowd, this crownd that you cherish, releases a lifeless but powerful "Amen" as if there "final judgment" depended on it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>At that point, your choice was already made and the people at your table noticed your silence. Depending on how strong the religious belief of those who witnessed your affront to the "creator" is, you will receive a more or less explicit notification of interested about your choice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fortunately, my recent experience of being "an Atheist at dinner" went well but I thought, "what a useless pressure our growingly atheist society put on itself?" and "Isn't it the very essence of respect to challenge believers around me because I believe they are equipped with Reason and able to question their "faith" as we all did?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As a very new member on this platform, I wished to throw this topic for us to share our experiences of being "an Atheist at Dinner" because I wondered how often do we challenge believers based on our respect for each other as earthlings and why do we sometimes take part in their routine.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>How often do you ask: "What if you are wrong?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ivo</p>Defeating the Bible , One chapter at a Time! (Genesis Chapter 4)tag:atheistnexus.org,2010-12-18:2182797:BlogPost:10579302010-12-18T03:21:30.000ZAndrew Lafonthttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/AndrewLafont
Chapter 4 hath arrived!!<br />
Let’s groove tonight!!<br />
<br />
“The man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have produced a man with the help of the LORD." Next she bore his brother Abel. Abel became a keeper of flocks, and Cain a tiller of the soil. In the course of time Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit of the soil, while Abel, for his part, brought one of the best firstlings of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on…
Chapter 4 hath arrived!!<br />
Let’s groove tonight!!<br />
<br />
“The man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have produced a man with the help of the LORD." Next she bore his brother Abel. Abel became a keeper of flocks, and Cain a tiller of the soil. In the course of time Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit of the soil, while Abel, for his part, brought one of the best firstlings of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not. Cain greatly resented this and was crestfallen. So the LORD said to Cain: "Why are you so resentful and crestfallen?”<br />
<br />
Huzzuah! A boy is born!! With the help of the ‘LORD’? Was the ‘LORD’ the doctor or did he. . . sleep with Eve. ‘God’ is bisexual? First there is Cain then Abel. ‘God’ likes Abel more than Cain, so Cain naturally gets jealous. “‘Why are you so resentful and crestfallen?’” Is ‘God’ really that thickheaded? ‘God’ is showing support for one son and not the other. Is this the start of a fetish ‘God’ starts? He always goes for the shepherd boy. The two famous examples are Abel and then Moses. In fact there are a lot of shepherd boys, that ‘God’ “reveals” himself to. Ick!<br />
<br />
“If you do well, you can hold up your head; but if not, sin is a demon lurking at the door: his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master." Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go out in the field." When they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD asked Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" He answered, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" The LORD then said: "What have you done! Listen: your brother's blood cries out to me from the soil! Therefore you shall be banned from the soil that opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. If you till the soil, it shall no longer give you its produce. You shall become a restless wanderer on the earth." Cain said to the LORD: "My punishment is too great to bear. Since you have now banished me from the soil, and I must avoid your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, anyone may kill me at sight." Not so!" the LORD said to him. "If anyone kills Cain, Cain shall be avenged sevenfold." So the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest anyone should kill him at sight. Cain then left the LORD'S presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.”<br />
What does that first line mean? If you do well, that’s good; but if not, then sin will take you over. Great words of encouragement there, Cain . . . Abel is dead. NOOOOOOOoOoOoOooooOoOOOooOooooo *cough* OooOOoooo!!!!!!!!! God: “Where is Abel? I need to reveal myself to him *snicker, snicker*” Cain: “idk.” Question, if the ‘LORD God’ knows everything why must he ask where Abel is? So now Cain cannot grow anything, his green thumb has turned black, and on top of it all he is banished to—what am I reading that right? Cain is banished to NOD??? I was RIGHT!!! Eden was green because of Tiberium! Where is GDI? Wait if Adam and Eve and Cain are the only people on the earth, why should Cain fear someone killing him. ‘Lest anyone should kill him on sight.’ Who is this everyone? There’s no one else on earth!!<br />
<br />
“Cain had relations with his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. Cain also became the founder of a city, which he named after his son Enoch. To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad became the father of Mehujael; Mehujael became the father of Methusael, and Methusael became the father of Lamech. Lamech took two wives; the name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabal, the ancestor of all who dwell in tents and keep cattle. His brother's name was Jubal; he was the ancestor of all who play the lyre and the pipe. Zillah, on her part, gave birth to Tubalcain, the ancestor of all who forge instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubalcain was Naamah. Lamech said to his wives: "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech, listen to my utterance: I have killed a man for wounding me, a boy for bruising me. If Cain is avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold." Adam again had relations with his wife, and she gave birth to a son whom she called Seth. "God has granted me more offspring in place of Abel," she said, "because Cain slew him." To Seth, in turn, a son was born, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to invoke the LORD by name.”<br />
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz—Huh? What? So sorry, there, I must have dozed off. So yea, many people were born, got it. Jabal is the ancestor of all those who live in tents and have cattle; the working dude. And another thing, if they are in a city, why are there should be no tents, and just how did the people learn this? Jubal, the ancestor of instruments; the music dude. Tubalcain forges instruments. Really? Are the instruments of war? Swords are from iron and shields are from bronze. How did Cain’s kids suddenly know how to do iron and bronze-working , or even where to find iron and bronze? Ah, Lamech, or as I like to call him ‘blanky-blank’. And more plagiarism: Seth was the Egyptian god of the desert, storm, and violence. And just where are all these women coming from? Did Cain have…sex with Eve? Ew! Major, Major EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!<br />
<br />
Chapter 4 is done!<br />
Tune in next time for the continuing adventure in:<br />
“Defeating the Bible—One Chapter at a time”!Defeating the Bible , One chapter at a Time! (Genesis Chapter 3)tag:atheistnexus.org,2010-03-26:2182797:BlogPost:7711222010-03-26T01:55:22.000ZAndrew Lafonthttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/AndrewLafont
<p class="MsoNormal">Welcome back Kiddies.</p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal">We are in week three.</p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal">Here we go!!!!</p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">“Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals that the LORD God had made. The serpent asked the woman, "Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees
in the garden?" The woman answered the serpent: "We may eat of the<br />
fruit of the trees in the garden; it…</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Welcome back Kiddies.</p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal">We are in week three.</p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal">Here we go!!!!</p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">“Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals that the LORD God had made. The serpent
asked the woman, "Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees<br />
in the garden?" The woman answered the serpent: "We may eat of the<br />
fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the<br />
middle of the garden that God said, 'You shall not eat it or even touch it,<br />
lest you die.'"But the serpent said to the woman: "You certainly will<br />
not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be<br />
opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad."<br />
The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and<br />
desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she<br />
also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes<br />
of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they<br />
sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.”</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><br/></i></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal">There is now a snake that can talk. Is Eve high? I mean that she is naked in a garden with Adam, her friend with
benefits, and she has nothing better to do but to talk to a snake? Right . . . “From that tree you shall not<br />
eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die.” That is quoted<br />
by ‘God’ from Genesis 2:17. Yes, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">doomed</i> to die not that you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">will die</i>. So, Adam has nothing better to do but eat<br />
some fruit. So he was taken time out of<br />
his very busy schedule to hang out with his wife. How does Adam and Eve suddenly know how to<br />
create clothes, loincloths of all things?</p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">“When they heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the garden at the breezy time of the day,
the man and his wife hid themselves from the LORD God among the trees of the<br />
garden. The LORD God then called to the man and asked him, "Where are<br />
you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid,<br />
because I was naked, so I hid myself." Then he asked, "Who told you<br />
that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had<br />
forbidden you to eat!" The man replied, "The woman whom you put here<br />
with me--she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it." The LORD God then<br />
asked the woman, "Why did you do such a thing?" The woman answered,<br />
"The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it." Then the LORD God said<br />
to the serpent: "Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all<br />
the animals and from all the wild creatures; On your belly shall you crawl, and<br />
dirt shall you eat all the days of your life.”</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><br/></i></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal">Ok, one thing; before it was just ‘God’ now there is ‘LORD God’. Is there really a difference
between the two? Did he get promoted for<br />
doing such a great job on the Earth? And<br />
if he did get promoted who is his boss? <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><br />
</span>‘God’ can only move during the breezy time of day. Sounds like a bad way to travel. If there is no wind then ‘God’ is up a<br />
creek. ‘God’ calls to Adam and Adam is<br />
hiding. Is Adam hiding from ‘God’ a game<br />
like hide-n-seek or is it that Adam does not want his ‘Ribs’ pulled out? ‘God’ is now high and mighty so he yells at<br />
Adam. What does Adam do? Blames it on his wife. And when ‘God’ yells at Eve, she blames a<br />
snake. Alright. Did snakes have legs before this time or<br />
what?</p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike
at your head, while you strike at his heel." To the woman he said: "I<br />
will intensify the pangs of your childbearing; in pain shall you bring forth<br />
children. Yet your urge shall be for your husband, and he shall be your<br />
master." To the man he said: "Because you listened to your wife and<br />
ate from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat, "Cursed be the<br />
ground because of you! In toil shall you eat its yield all the days of your<br />
life. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you, as you eat of the plants<br />
of the field. By the sweat of your face shall you get bread to eat, Until you<br />
return to the ground, from which you were taken; For you are dirt, and to dirt<br />
you shall return."”</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><br/></i></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal">Umm, alright . . . . Is ‘God’ talking to man or to the snake in the first line? Not quite sure what
that passage means there. . . . The husband is the master, huh? Sounds oddly sexist, doesn’t it? Was childbearing not as painful as<br />
before? And where ARE the children of<br />
the previous non painful bearing? Since<br />
Adam listened to Eve, ‘God’ is sad now. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">“And since you listened to your wife, you<br />
shall not pull out your own ‘rib’, because I’m jealous of you and Eve.”</i> The lesson you should go home with is that<br />
agriculture was not with the advancement of technology and society, but because<br />
you and your wife at fruit. Yea, logic<br />
there Christians.</p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">“The man called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living. For the man and his
wife the LORD God made leather garments, with which he clothed them. Then the<br />
LORD God said: "See! The man has become like one of us, knowing what is<br />
good and what is bad! Therefore, he must not be allowed to put out his hand to<br />
take fruit from the tree of life also, and thus eat of it and live<br />
forever." The LORD God therefore banished him from the garden of Eden, to<br />
till the ground from which he had been taken. When he expelled the man, he<br />
settled him east of the garden of Eden; and he stationed the cherubim and the<br />
fiery revolving sword, to guard the way to the tree of life.”</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><br/></i></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal">‘God’ is now a tailor. Creator, Geneticist, Surgeon, and now Tailor. What will he do next? <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">US!?!?!?!???!??!</b> When did singular become plural?!?!? Is this God’s
boss on the line, now? Man cannot eat<br />
from the tree of life and live forever. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><br />
</span>Um, ok. Was that an internal conversation between Gods’ split<br />
personalities? Man is settled east of<br />
the garden of Eden, and settles guards and a revolving sword of fire. Hell, the fiery would have just scared the .<br />
. . the Winne the Pooh out of man.</p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal">Chapter three is finished!</p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal">What will happen next; a murder, perhaps?</p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal">Tune in next time for the greatest show on Earth:</p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal">Defeating the Bible, Once Chapter at a Time!</p>Atheist @ the Olympics!!!tag:atheistnexus.org,2010-03-02:2182797:BlogPost:7444162010-03-02T01:02:55.000ZSarah Ellehttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/LaceyL
Thought my fellow AN people would enjoy this. This guy was on Granville street in downtown Vancouver last night for the Olympics closing day celebrations! Awesome! Oh and don't mind that douche in the background hahaha he's actually pretty cool.…<br></br><br></br><p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com/files/xgi5fjxyTUspRHD*bTK1yK7LoVkaWKA2Z0bvJuYHj4IyR3ozw8T*rxo2TwqQwJRrkBHO6XEsfiOgB9lcAwqh68TkdreE4h4M/Atheistdude.jpg?width=721"></img></p>
<br></br><p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com/files/5mNWqeX4uEEYCus-xeKkcWlS-fr8BzCq*9HaFf87DPE-gvhIoyeL2SUb88naDcc3DyZe6EVrVLnw625vrcHvK00fzd9DPHUy/AtheistDude2.jpg?width=721"></img></p>
Thought my fellow AN people would enjoy this. This guy was on Granville street in downtown Vancouver last night for the Olympics closing day celebrations! Awesome! Oh and don't mind that douche in the background hahaha he's actually pretty cool.<br/><br/><p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://api.ning.com/files/xgi5fjxyTUspRHD*bTK1yK7LoVkaWKA2Z0bvJuYHj4IyR3ozw8T*rxo2TwqQwJRrkBHO6XEsfiOgB9lcAwqh68TkdreE4h4M/Atheistdude.jpg?width=721" alt=""/></p>
<br/><p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://api.ning.com/files/5mNWqeX4uEEYCus-xeKkcWlS-fr8BzCq*9HaFf87DPE-gvhIoyeL2SUb88naDcc3DyZe6EVrVLnw625vrcHvK00fzd9DPHUy/AtheistDude2.jpg?width=721" alt=""/></p>Defeating the Bible--One Chapter at a Time (Genesis Chapter 2) Part 4tag:atheistnexus.org,2010-02-11:2182797:BlogPost:7211652010-02-11T01:09:09.000ZAndrew Lafonthttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/AndrewLafont
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri" size="3">NOD!?!?!?!??! Any Command and Conquer fans here, reading this? I need to contact GDI. Was Eden so green because it was made of tiberium? Is Kane there? Alright so the Garden of Eden stretches from Africa to Iraq area to Eastern Turkey.…</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" color="#000000" size="3">NOD!?!?!?!??! Any Command and Conquer fans here, reading this? I need to contact GDI. Was Eden so green because it was made of tiberium? Is Kane there? Alright so the Garden of Eden stretches from Africa to Iraq area to Eastern Turkey.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><font face="Calibri" color="#000000" size="3">“The LORD God gave man this order: "You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and bad. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die." The LORD God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him." So the LORD God formed out of the ground various wild animals and various birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each of them would be its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals; but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man. So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When he brought her to the man, the man said: "This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called 'woman,' for out of 'her man' this one has been taken." That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body. The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.”</font></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" color="#000000" size="3">Have any of you met a child? If you say not to do something, the child will do it. If you tell them to do something they won’t. Simple. “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">It is not good for the man to be alone.</i>” Why is it, after 2,000 years, we have created a prison system in which man is alone?? Yea, animals will make man feel better about being alone, in a Garden, naked, with this really big guy watching over him. Think about it; man and a male God, in the middle of nowhere . . . alone. Brokeback Mountain tent scene. Just sayin’. Man made all the names for the animals. Is this common names or scientific names? Cattle, birds, wild animals. Were these animals there, or were they magically created and jumped into existence out of nowhere. “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">And so God put man into a deep sleep and sent every creature unto man, to make sweet monkey love, because God has a twisted sense of humour.</i>” What? You didn’t see that line? It’s right there. Anyway, God just did surgery. Doctor, Geneticist, and Creator all rolled into one. He took a rib and closed it with flesh. Of course, you close it with flesh. If not flesh, was he gonna use rubber. No, he’ll just use a piece of the cow and cover up the hole. So, woman is borne out of man. Feminists, get ready. Just goes to show you that the bible is ‘male-oriented’. Woman is there while man and God get busy in the tent, pulling out their ‘ribs’.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" color="#000000" size="3">And so, Week two is finished!!!! W00T-age!</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" color="#000000" size="3">What will happen in week three?</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri">Tune in next time for a new exciting adventure in: </font></font></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" color="#000000" size="3">Defeating the Bible—One Chapter at a Time!</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt">P.S. I had to upload this in 4 parts because <em>Atheist Nexus</em> is suckky about uploading pictures with words underneath</p>Defeating the Bible--One Chapter at a Time (Genesis Chapter 2) Part 3tag:atheistnexus.org,2010-02-11:2182797:BlogPost:7211642010-02-11T01:07:03.000ZAndrew Lafonthttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/AndrewLafont
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri">Now Eden is in Turkey, Eastern Turkey. Um weren’t we just in Africa? I could have sworn we were just in Africa. We SO were!! Okay, but isn’t the Pishon still leading toward Kuwait? Does the Pishon start in Africa and then move all the way up to Turkey? Here’s another one:…</font></font></font></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri">Now Eden is in Turkey, Eastern Turkey. Um weren’t we just in Africa? I could have sworn we were just in Africa. We SO were!! Okay, but isn’t the Pishon still leading toward Kuwait? Does the Pishon start in Africa and then move all the way up to Turkey? Here’s another one: </font></font></font></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com/files/UP4CpPET0gu3RDOSjFQRAsoTdaDSMmvBObAVoc4h-Nb44q3IfddQj*Ilcc6tR0qq0F8s7nkYQArNULOiK8PAcqCZxmStIxIa/1_gn.jpg?width=721"/></span></font></font></font></p>Defeating the Bible--One Chapter at a Time (Genesis Chapter 2) Part 2tag:atheistnexus.org,2010-02-11:2182797:BlogPost:7211612010-02-11T01:05:25.000ZAndrew Lafonthttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/AndrewLafont
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri" size="3">By reading this map the Garden of Eden is in Africa. Just below Ethiopia, Kenya and southern Somalia, and everything down from that. Is Eden in Kenya or the entire eastern coast of Africa? Little vague here on directions, ya know? How about this one?…</font></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com/files/RGG4bkCk*4dYgvoMNik7SaCdjQB87MVL2LH9jlo0VxRTtNgXpiGZbSuIZHveNEYxv6lFrOpnUYiMLYQhIjatdIClI2BiDMaS/eden.gif"></img></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" color="#000000" size="3">By reading this map the Garden of Eden is in Africa. Just below Ethiopia, Kenya and southern Somalia, and everything down from that. Is Eden in Kenya or the entire eastern coast of Africa? Little vague here on directions, ya know? How about this one?</font></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><img alt="" src="http://api.ning.com/files/RGG4bkCk*4dYgvoMNik7SaCdjQB87MVL2LH9jlo0VxRTtNgXpiGZbSuIZHveNEYxv6lFrOpnUYiMLYQhIjatdIClI2BiDMaS/eden.gif"/></p>Defeating the Bible--One Chapter at a Time (Genesis Chapter 2) Part 1tag:atheistnexus.org,2010-02-10:2182797:BlogPost:7199972010-02-10T04:01:00.000ZAndrew Lafonthttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/AndrewLafont
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri" size="3">How did you like the first week?</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri" size="3">Good, right?</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri" size="3">Let’s move on to Chapter two.…</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" color="#000000" size="3">How did you like the first week?</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" color="#000000" size="3">Good, right?</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" color="#000000" size="3">Let’s move on to Chapter two.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><font face="Calibri" color="#000000" size="3">“Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed. Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing, he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.”</font></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" color="#000000" size="3">So this is the reason why I cannot buy any novelty items on Sunday? I mean, every single business—with the exception of McDonalds and Wal-Mart—is closed every Sunday. How do people get business? How hard is it to create the world in 6 days? And for that matter, how IS the shape of the world? From what we saw last week, the state of the Earth is pretty poor. It looks like God threw something hastily together and threw it into space. It was if Earth had to be made at Midnight and God started at 11:59.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><font face="Calibri" color="#000000" size="3">“Such is the story of the heavens and the earth at their creation. At the time when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens--while as yet there was no field shrub on earth and no grass of the field had sprouted, for the LORD God had sent no rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the soil, but a stream was welling up out of the earth and was watering all the surface of the ground--the LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being.”</font></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" color="#000000" size="3">Um, question—didn’t we learn that man was created on the 6<sup>th</sup> day? Is this the 6<sup>th</sup> day or the 7<sup>th</sup> or what? Very vague on the timeline here. So even though we have plants, they are not growing. Did the Christian God take gardening 101? Plants that get no water = death. Ok so now we have a planet with no greenery and now man is made of clay. Does this not remind you of the Greeks? Prometheus—along with his brother Epimethus—created mankind. Out of clay! I think the Christian God did a bit of plagiarizing.</font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><font face="Calibri" color="#000000" size="3">“Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and he placed there the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God made various trees grow that were delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and bad. A river rises in Eden to water the garden; beyond there it divides and becomes four branches.”</font></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font face="Calibri" color="#000000" size="3">Um, excuse me could we be clearer on the directions? I punched this into MapQuest, and nothing came up. Is there a landmark? So its wasteland Earth with one spot of green? Can we connect this to Fallout 3? Is this Oasis? Will there be ‘Harold the talking tree’? So if there is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, why did the Christian God did created Evil? God could have just cut it off at the head, or root, um . . . I mean Trunk?</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><font face="Calibri" color="#000000" size="3">“A river rises in Eden to water the garden; beyond there it divides and becomes four branches. The name of the first is the Pishon; it is the one that winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is excellent; bdellium and lapis lazuli are also there. The name of the second river is the Gihon; it is the one that winds all through the land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it is the one that flows east of Asshur. The fourth river is the Euphrates. The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.”</font></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri">Ok, alright, so . . . now there is a river and four branches of the river. That narrows it down to 165 major rivers and several thousand minor rivers and Flying Spaghetti Monster knows how many are not even counted. Can we, ya know, narrow this down some more? Pishon, Pishon . . . say isn’t that one river that ran northeast to Kuwait? You know what maybe a map will help: </font></font></font></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><img style="WIDTH: 499px; HEIGHT: 432px" height="548" alt="" src="http://api.ning.com/files/CGRCmmf*qiviOwXSqp8vsOUBu7XDzSTxS5qnfMpwWczXmiBvhpJwADxW2rrVV8XrhH-qmXOZkw2uqqrqnThNnFeMjAc77QXi/figure6.gif?width=721" width="655"/></span></font></font></font></p>Defeating the Bible--One Chapter at a Time (Genesis Chapter 1)tag:atheistnexus.org,2010-01-19:2182797:BlogPost:6919502010-01-19T02:35:03.000ZAndrew Lafonthttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/AndrewLafont
This is to become a new segment I will be posting on Think Atheist and on Atheist Nexus.<br />
The point of this new series of blog posts would be the weekly defeating of a chapter of the Christian Bible.<br />
<br />
That said, let us start; in the beginning. (Pun intended)<br />
<br />
In the first chapter of Genesis the creation of the world—in the Christian view—takes six days with one day for relaxation.<br />
<br />
<i>“In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness…</i>
This is to become a new segment I will be posting on Think Atheist and on Atheist Nexus.<br />
The point of this new series of blog posts would be the weekly defeating of a chapter of the Christian Bible.<br />
<br />
That said, let us start; in the beginning. (Pun intended)<br />
<br />
In the first chapter of Genesis the creation of the world—in the Christian view—takes six days with one day for relaxation.<br />
<br />
<i>“In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw how good the light was. God then separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." Thus evening came, and morning followed--the first day.”</i><br />
<br />
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://api.ning.com/files/4UFUF3LSzNBb5S2e7wsxI3kDSKvLUiBRcet6RIMggYRGuExmYsOQMPU-tfBBqpO57fkuMblIulfjBI136l1Ss4c-WQQRGcn6/history.jpg" alt=""/></p>
<br />
Christianity, meet the Big Bang<br />
The four major forces in the universe are: Electromagnetic energy, Gravity, and Strong and Weak Nuclear force. The originals; existing in harmony pre-Big Bang. Gravity split and the force of the split was powerful enough to cause the Big Bang. That was the beginning! About 9.2 billion years After the Big Bang, our solar system was created. So, the Christians expect people to believe that the first day was about 9.2 billion years. Um, Sorry Christians that does not make sense.<br />
The description of the Earth, they speak of water and wind. Earth is also a formless wasteland. Formless, no form, so no shape, if you will. So imagine a chunk of water just floating in space; but there is wind. So it’s a chunk of water floating in space with an atmosphere around it. Don’t forget there is no sun. So we have at the end of day one, water with an atmosphere going around the sun. Let’s move on to day two.<br />
<br />
<i>“Then God said, "Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other." And so it happened: God made the dome, and it separated the water above the dome from the water below it. God called the dome "the sky." Evening came, and morning followed--the second day.”</i><br />
<br />
There is water, a Dome and then water. Now we have water on top of the dome and water under the dome with an atmosphere going around the sun. The dome is now called the sky. That means if we go up far enough we reach water. This would be impossible the pressure of water pressing down on us would crush us. Water pressure formula is P = a+l*g*h. P = water pressure (hydrostatic) a = atmospheric pressure at water's surface l = water density g = gravitational acceleration. Water pressure times by 0.014 to express pressure in pounds per square inch units. Moving on the third day.<br />
<br />
<i>“Then God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin, so that the dry land may appear." And so it happened: the water under the sky was gathered into its basin, and the dry land appeared. God called the dry land "the earth," and the basin of the water he called "the sea." God saw how good it was. Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it." And so it happened: the earth brought forth every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. God saw how good it was. Evening came, and morning followed--the third day.”</i><br />
<br />
Now there is land, land has been created. Now there is land and a sea, then the ‘Sky’, then water, then an atmosphere going around the sun. Very vague on the ‘Earth’: do they mean Ur, the original land mass created 3 billion years ago, or the ‘earth as of now’? Plants and fruits only from seeds, huh? Where, then, do coconuts, bananas, limes, pineapples, navel oranges, etc. come from? Were they magically produced, or are they just figments of our imagination? What of plants that produce through spores or asexually? We forgot fungus. How did fungus get here, Christians? How about Algae? Algae have no seeds. 1.3 billion years ago plants came around. 1.6 billion Years ago algae was first. Did we just skip over point 3 billion years? Let’s just go on to the next day, since you and I need a break . . .<br />
<br />
<i>“Then God said: "Let there be lights in the dome of the sky, to separate day from night. Let them mark the fixed times, the days and the years, and serve as luminaries in the dome of the sky, to shed light upon the earth." And so it happened: God made the two great lights, the greater one to govern the day, and the lesser one to govern the night; and he made the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky, to shed light upon the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw how good it was. Evening came, and morning followed--the fourth day.”</i><br />
<br />
Whoa, what the hell just happened? So there is no sun or stars as I assumed earlier? So Earth as first then the rest of the universe caught up with us? The sun is 4.57 billion years old. The moon is 4.5 billion years ago. The Earth is 4.45 billion years old. ‘HE0107-5240’ is the oldest star in existence; how old? Try about 14 billion years old. Created from pure elements left over from the Big Bang. Moving on . . .<br />
<br />
<i>“Then God said, "Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures, and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky." And so it happened: God created the great sea monsters and all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teems, and all kinds of winged birds. God saw how good it was, and God blessed them, saying, "Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas; and let the birds multiply on the earth." Evening came, and morning followed--the fifth day.”</i><br />
<br />
Birds came around 150 million years ago, and life itself began 4 billion years ago. Can you see the problem here? So there is no mention of the Ordovician-Silurian extinction, the Late Devonian extinction, the Permian-Triassic extinction, the Triassic-Jurassic extinction, and the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction? All sea creature and all birds are created at this time. Why are animals extinct then?<br />
<br />
<i>“Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures: cattle, creeping things, and wild animals of all kinds." And so it happened: God made all kinds of wild animals, all kinds of cattle, and all kinds of creeping things of the earth. God saw how good it was. Then God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground." God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them, saying: "Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth." God also said: "See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground, I give all the green plants for food." And so it happened. God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed--the sixth day.”</i><br />
<br />
So it is, in order now: Water, sky, land, plants, sun, birds and sea creatures, then land mammals, then us. Modern animals come on the scene 114 million years ago. The human race comes around 5 million years ago. Homo sapiens don’t come around until 250,000 years ago. Animal domestication and plant cultivation happened 18,000 years ago. Can we see the problem? Even the dull people can count. Christians, this is wrong, on so many levels. For me to refute the first chapter of Genesis completely, it would take me years. I will leave you Christians with a little quote.<br />
<br />
“Stupidity vanishes before Scientific Thought”—Andrew Lafont<br />
Viva AtheismJesus and the Laughing Deitytag:atheistnexus.org,2009-12-24:2182797:BlogPost:6615272009-12-24T22:09:48.000ZJim Pagehttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/JimPage
it was in the great cathedral when nobody was around<br />
just Jesus on cross beams wishin’ he could get down<br />
when a stranger came in ridin’ a dusty old horse<br />
and the stranger he was laughin’, respectfully of course<br />
<br />
“why so glum?” the stranger said, “it’s such a beautiful view”<br />
“Jesus!” said Jesus, “don’t you know who you’re talkin’ to?<br />
and who are you to interrupt my sacred misery?”<br />
“oh I thought you knew,” the stranger said, “I am the laughing deity”<br />
<br />
“the laughing deity,” said Jesus, “well I…
it was in the great cathedral when nobody was around<br />
just Jesus on cross beams wishin’ he could get down<br />
when a stranger came in ridin’ a dusty old horse<br />
and the stranger he was laughin’, respectfully of course<br />
<br />
“why so glum?” the stranger said, “it’s such a beautiful view”<br />
“Jesus!” said Jesus, “don’t you know who you’re talkin’ to?<br />
and who are you to interrupt my sacred misery?”<br />
“oh I thought you knew,” the stranger said, “I am the laughing deity”<br />
<br />
“the laughing deity,” said Jesus, “well I have my doubts<br />
besides, I don’t know what there is to laugh about<br />
I’ve been beaten up and spat on and riddled through with spears<br />
and I’ve been hangin’ from this damn thing for 2000 years”<br />
<br />
“that’s a shame,” said the deity, “somebody ought to take you down<br />
you don’t look so good, I know a doctor down town<br />
you could get gangrene, this place is full of rats<br />
ain’t no way to treat a savior leave him hangin’ like that”<br />
<br />
“Jesus!” said Jesus, as he cried a bloody tear<br />
“people say they love me but they keep me up here<br />
they think that if I’m miserable they won’t have to feel so bad<br />
if I could get out of this place I’d go to Trinidad”<br />
<br />
“don’t you have a famous father who could lay this place to waste?”<br />
“yeah I do,” said Jesus, “but this was his idea in the first place<br />
don’t ask me to explain it, it would take too long<br />
families like mine you have to learn to get along”<br />
<br />
now the deity distracted and his mouth began to smile<br />
and he realized he hadn’t had a good laugh in quite a while<br />
but there ain’t no sense in laughin' all alone, says he<br />
“come on Jesus, laugh with me”<br />
<br />
“Jesus!” said Jesus, “you must be out of your mind!<br />
I may be many things to many people but I ain’t the laughin’ kind”<br />
“you better learn to be,” the deity replied<br />
“can’t get much worse, you’re already crucified”<br />
<br />
“but what about these nails, they got me hangin' up here like a trophy”<br />
“oh those things are only as strong as you allow them to be<br />
sack cloth and nails, hardwood cross beams and glue<br />
you start laughin’ loud enough, no tellin’ what they might do”<br />
<br />
“all right,” said Jesus, with a furrow on his brow<br />
“I used to laugh a long time ago but I kinda forgot how”<br />
“that’s alright,” said the deity, “you’ll get it back<br />
you just need a little somethin’ to help lubricate the laugh track”<br />
<br />
“you ever hear the one about the humans?” he said, as he got right up to his ear<br />
and he whispered in a punch line that we will never hear<br />
and Jesus, well, his composure started to erode<br />
and then he broke a laugh like the world would explode<br />
<br />
and his laughter ricocheted like a fusillade of thunder<br />
and great cathedral shuddered from the miracle and wonder<br />
and after a while when he finally settled down<br />
Jesus and the deity were both standing on the ground<br />
<br />
“Jesus!” said Jesus, “how did I get down?<br />
my hands don’t hurt, my side is healed and I’m walkin’ around<br />
it’s like I just woke up and shook myself and watched myself appear<br />
I haven’t felt this good in two thousand years”<br />
<br />
“accept it,” said the deity, “suspend your disbelief<br />
you don’t have to always be so serious, life is way too brief<br />
this is your second chance my friend, it’s a brand new you<br />
no one will even recognize you, you can do what you want to do”<br />
<br />
“but what about my followers when they come here looking for me?”<br />
“oh that’s alright, there’s still that other you,” said the laughing deity<br />
and sure enough there he was, so high up in the dust<br />
abandoned and forlorn just like he always was<br />
<br />
“Jesus!” said Jesus, “let’s get out of here!”<br />
and they both got on that dusty old horse and away they disappeared<br />
they could’ve ridden off into the sunset but they went the other way<br />
into where the sun was risin’, ‘cause its better that way<br />
<br />
there are many morals to be had in story and in song<br />
be careful not to misinterpret or you might just get them wrong<br />
some worlds are full of demons and some are filled with light<br />
it don’t matter what you’re lookin’ at if you can’t see it right<br />
<br />
so if you need some explanations in all these great vast mysteries<br />
there are many ways to follow in many different directories<br />
some will leave you hangin’, some will give you a better view<br />
the choice is there before you and I’ll leave it up to you<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
copyright Jim Page, Whid-Isle Music BMI